


Heart-shaped stars

by AlicesMelancholy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Astronomy and shit™, Characters don't belong to moi, Cheese, College AU, Did I mention gayyy??, Female pronouns for Pidge, Fluff, Gay, Klance College, Lance is bby, Love/Hate, M/M, Precious Lance, Read with tea pls, Voltron, Voltron au, Yaoi, klance, klangst, pinning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 15:43:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11016480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlicesMelancholy/pseuds/AlicesMelancholy
Summary: "Second star to the right and straight on'till morning."College AU.It was a mundane schoolday for the astronomy department, when Lance gets paired up with Keith in order to work on a Cosmology project. What Keith doesn't know is that Lance suffers from health problems, and what Lance doesn't know is that Keith will soon stop seeming so annoying. A story of discovery, romance and support.





	Heart-shaped stars

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally finished the first chapter!! Re-read and re-read dozens of times, hopefully doesn't disappoint! Astronomy students amirite? :))

Sunshine (noun) = direct sunlight unbroken by cloud, especially over a comparatively large area.

Sunshine, a word that represented the core element from the vocabulary of an astronomy student. Not to say that the astronomy department had a particularly easy time with their subjects, nor that astronomy was to be taken lightly. Every university has tough teachers, but there was something about astronomy students. They tried to be happy. The hallways often served as shallow echoes of their laughter as they pushed each other down the stairwell. 

Lance had always thought that eyes were the window to the soul, but more importantly, that the windows themselves were gateways of opportunity, especially when it came to paper airplanes. At his age you'd think that he'd at least control himself. 21 and he still fell pray to silly games. He was leaning up against a wall, neatly folding the daily newspaper into a "well crafted flying vehicle", or so he said.

Shadows shifted. “Now that's what I call being downright rude" said Hunk. "Building paper airplanes, by yourself?? You seriously have to start considering other people's feelings Lance." 

The big guy had been Lance's best friend since kindergarten. United by a mutual dream, they had stuck together ever since. When they were about five they had seen a NASA documentary on the old TV that now lay in Hunk's previous apartment, and they had decided that they wanted, no, needed to go see space for themselves. A burning desire was born in their plastic hearts. When you're a kid you have other interests, such as caching the new Pokémon episode or deciding who's turn it is to be the goalkeeper in a football match, no time for such complicated questions, "Mom are we alone in the universe?", most kids won't ask that. Never in a million years would Lance and Hunk had pondered upon that issue at such a fragile age, if it wouldn't have been for that documentary.  
"Hunk!! Those guys are so cool! Someday I want to discover a planet on my own too and name it after me!" That's how the two ended up going to the Astronomy Department belonging to the University of Florida. 

"Lance, bud, you here with me?"  
"Shoot", the tanned boy snapped to reality, "what were you saying Hunk?"  
His friend shot him a concerned look, "I was saying that it's inconsiderate of you to start making paper airplanes without gracing me with something as simple as an invitation."  
"Haha, sorry dude", said Lance as he got up and opened one of the windows on the hallway. "But watch this, I spent a lot of time crafting this aerodynamic vehicle, and it's bound to fly."  
"You mean you spent five minutes, two from which you started dozing off, folding a page from this morning's newspaper in order to throw a piece of paper out the window and further pollute mother nature? I'm impressed."  
"Aw Hunky, you sucked the fun out of it. You ought to stop spending so much time with Pidge, her nerdiness has been really rubbing onto you. Further pollute, ha! I'm simply increasing my dopamine levels by doing something I enjoy."  
Hunk gave up, not worth it, he thought, “Whatever you say dude."  
The airplane was thrown out of the window desperately trying to hold it self to any riffle of wind that blew its way. To no avail. Three seconds and the fashion section started falling at dangerous speed as if she was just about to marry itself to the ground. Sometimes it takes two in order to build something, the airplane had the necessary willpower, but the wind remained unmoved by its pleas.  
Seeing Lance's lips morph into a backwards "u", Hunk quickly inquired: "We should get going. Cosmology with miss Allura starts in five". 

After Lance finished his whining about how unfair this world was and how his creation should have lasted longer in the air, whining accompanied by numerous footsteps, they got to their class. One minute earlier even, now that's a record. The two boys occupied their middle row seats and waited for Allura to show up. There were lots of other students in the classroom, from which Lance had only bothered talking to a few, Pidge, Hunk and Keith. Pidge was a nuisance sometimes, but her dorky personality and sadly not occasional pranks always managed to lift the Cuban boy's spirits, while Keith, well he wasn't exactly his friend, more like his rival. When the two were together one could tell that hell was about to unleash, mockery is a powerful weapon. Their opinions always clashed, and because both of them had a childish attitude, they succeeded in making most people roll their eyes at them.  
Lance tapped his fingers nervously on the wooden desk, until the teacher finally made her appearance. 

"My apologize everyone! An urgent matter came up" Allura spoke rather flustered.  
"Probably just chatted with mister Shirogane and lost track of time" Lance whispered in Hunk's ear. Good thing Allura hadn't spotted him, because if she had, he'd most likely had to listen to one of her never ending lectures on why speaking during class was disrespectful and so on and so forth. The girl had manners, and held tightly to them , nobody could argue with that.  
"Well class", she continued, "since there's only two months of this school year left and I'm fully aware that Cosmology isn't the only thing on your mind, I'll be handing out a freestyle assignment for you to complete. You'll have to prepare a presentation related to something that we have studied this year. You'll have a month to complete it and you'll be working in pairs-"  
Allura didn't even get to finish what she initially had in mind, because more than half of the pupils started whispering, deciding on who to pair up with. Lance scooped closer to Hunk as if to mark his territory.  
"Wait up everyone! I have compiled a list of the groups in order to make you step out of your comfort zone and get to know your classmates better."  
Lots of loud sighs escaped. Lance wrinkled his nose. He wasn't exactly keen on getting to know other people. He was an extrovert, but he had his habits that he knew most people couldn't tolerate. Hunk had known him since forever and he felt comfortable in his presence.  
Their teacher started reading the names on the list, letting everyone know who they would be paired up with. She got to Lance.  
"Lance McClain together with Keith Kogane".  
Five seconds had passed and Lance didn't want to believe his ears. Keith, Keith fucking Kogane. Out of all the variables fate had decided to pair him up with Starboy. That or Allura was keen on making his life miserable. Little bit of both never hurt anyone. The boy was displeased and was about to speak up his mind when Allura's voice brought him back:  
"Please treat this assignment with the outmost seriousness as it represents 25% of your grade."  
Perfect, just what the tanned boy needed to hear. He could fail Cosmology, he could raise up his grade if he aced all his other tests, but even he knew that that was pushing his luck too far. He started thinking up other ways that led to him not completing the assignment, when the bell unleashed crystal clear noise. The class had passed without him even noticing. Great, he would soon have to talk to Keith. But not now, he'd have other opportunities as well. Or so he thought as he waltzed out of the building thinking of what he could have for lunch. Not many options really. Neckdeep in what kind of sandwich to buy, he suddenly felt a tap on his right shoulder. 

"Yo McClain, I've been calling your name. Have you washed your ears properly this morning or are you going through an inner existential crisis?". Oh that voice, that voice belonged to the one and only, Keith Kogane, star student, antisocial prick, now smirking as if he'd just discovered that the earth was in fact round.  
"Excuse me for not being right at your fingertips when you call sweetheart", Lance's turn to display a shit-eating grin.  
A scoff. "As much as I enjoy formalities, we need to start talking about that project"  
"That much I know as well.”  
"Great. Mind picking an actual theme for the project or are you perhaps busy?" The raven's voice echoed sarcastically.  
"If it's about working with you, you bet I have the time", Lance shot him his best wink. Practicing every morning in the mirror had its benefits. Keith eyed him with doubt in his eyes, but managed to mutter a halfhearted “ok”. The two occupied one of the free benches, silence beginning to beat louder than drums. They felt uncomfortable, not knowing where to put their hands in order to keep a certain distance between them, after a while, it felt like they had been watching the clouds pass for an extended period of time, until Keith finally opened his mouth. The levels of discomfort were rising.  
"Ok McClain, any ideas?"  
"I want something that has to do with stars", the other male quickly replied as if he had been waiting for that very question.  
"Stars? What about them? We could write about the never-ending universe expansion, about the possibility of life on other planets, space dust and you want to talk about stars?", now he was completely puzzled, just when he thought he had figured Lance out.  
"Yeah Mr. Expert, I want to write about stars. I think they're pretty cool."  
Keith huffed "So your only argument as to why our project should be based on incandescent bodies is that you 'find them cool'? Seems legit"  
Lance sighed. It was the kind of sigh that math teachers gave their students when they couldn’t solve simple equations. Exasperation mixed with tiredness, for good measure. “As humans we are aware that we are not alone in this universe, we know that planets exist, we know that there are billions of other galaxies, but that only makes us feel small, maybe insignificant. But stars, they are tied to mankind's history. We use them to guide ourselves both physically and spiritually. When we sailed the seas we'd use Polaris, when we wrote stories, we'd be inspired by stars, think about Peter Pan, second star to the right, people go on dates outside to watch them with their significant other, point is that stars are important and you can't deny it.", a small pause, “too much?”  
"I wasn't denying it, just taken aback by your project idea. I'm even more surprised that you managed to formulate a coherent argument-"  
"Hey!" the Cuban boy ever so rudely interfered.  
"Let me finish. Because you have a point I am going to agree with your project theme. Talking about the influence of stars on humanity isn't half bad."  
Lance smirked. "Hah! I'm glad you finally understand my genius!"  
"That's all you got from what I said? Why am I not surprised?"  
Before Lance could give a cocky reply, his phone screen lit up. Hunk was calling him.  
"Yo dude, where you at?? Thought we were gonna meet at the cafeteria.", Hunk's disappointed voice echoed from the device.  
"Sorry Hunk, I lost track of time, I'm on my way!". And with that, Lance hung up and the conversation ended.  
"Well", the Cuban boy began, "I gotta get going. Hungry Hunk ain't worth messing with."  
"Words of wisdom. I'll see you around."  
Lance gave him his classical finger guns goodbye and Keith scoffed. "Don't do that around me."  
"Would you prefer a hug?"  
"Has your mother never taught you how to wave goodbye?"  
"As you may be aware Kogane, not everyone had the privilege to the high level education you received as a child."  
That earned him a laugh and an ever so serious "fuck off".

**Author's Note:**

> Hmu if you wanna talk or share your feedback!  
> Tumblr: silvermoon99


End file.
